ONE Championship 84 results: Zebaztian Kadestam takes 170-pound title with thrilling late KO

As ONE Championship 84’s headliner wore on, it wasn’t at all clear whether Zebaztian Kadestam’s somewhat patient approach would pay off against a gritty Tyler McGuire.

However, just as it seemed like ONE Championship’s new welterweight titleholder was going to be decided in the judges’ scorecards, Kadestam (11-4) found what he’d been looking for. With about 30 seconds left in the fifth and final round, Kadestam dropped McGuire (11-1) with a massive right hand, which he followed up with a knee to secure the most notable win of his MMA career.

ONE Championship 84 took place at Stadium Istora in Jakarta, Indonesia. It streamed live on the ONE Championship app, following prelims on Facebook and Twitter.

A little more than one year after unsuccessfully challenging Ben Askren for the 170-pound title, Kadestam is now the owner of the belt that Askren left behind. McGuire, who went toe-to-toe on his showboating foe, suffered the first loss of his MMA career.

McGuire was quick to get to business, shooting for a takedown after only a few strikes. Kadestam, however, did a good job at staying out of the danger zone and got the fight back to where he wanted. Kadestam patiently stalked McGuire, who circled and occasionally advanced with pairs of overhands. McGuire tried for another takedown as the final two minutes of the first round approached and succeeded this time around. Kadestam, however, was eventually able to get back up – even if he almost gave up his back in the process. Back on the feet, Kadestam remained contained, chasing McGuire without throwing much, in what seemed like a strategy to tire him out. Late in the round, Kadestam landed a good spinning kick.

McGuire was again the one throwing more as the second round started, but nothing landed. Kadestam threw a powerful low kick early and, predictably, soon saw himself having to resist takedown attempts by the wrestler. McGuire invested quite some time in an attempt as Kadestam resisted against the cage, and his patience eventually paid off. Kadestam relented and, though he briefly got back up, he was taken down once more shortly after. As Kadestam got himself back up, McGuire continued to press him against the cage until the two were ordered to break. Kadestam immediately resumed his stalking of McGuire. For all his studying, though, Kadestam didn’t find any significant offense.

The scenario starting off Round 3 was pretty much the same one of the previous rounds: Kadestam pushed forward trying to find his openings, while McGuire circled and threw short, mostly ineffective hand combos. Kadestam started upping the volume of strikes halfway through the round, his low kicks seemingly starting to bother McGuire. In the final two minutes, McGuire took the unsurprising route to try to halt Kadestam’s offense and attempted a takedown. A brief exchange against the cage led to an accidental low blow on McGuire, though, and the action was paused for a few minutes. As they returned, Kadestam landed a massive low kick that wobbled McGuire, but that didn’t stop the McGuire from moving and circling around his opponent. As the round ended, Kadestam threw yet another flashy flying strike, but it didn’t land.

McGuire was quicker to shoot for a takedown as the fourth round started, but Kadestam remained active and easily moved away. McGuire kept up his movement, while Kadestam continued to throw single, power-laced blows that mostly didn’t land. A spinning backfist attempt backfired for Kadestam as McGuire was able to convert it into a takedown, but a slick Kadestam was able to quickly get back up. There, Kadestam teased and taunted his opponent, still finding most of his success with his leg attacks. A bloodied-up McGuire, however, wouldn’t stop moving as Kadestam chased him down and played to the crowd. McGuire was able to get Kadestam against the cage once more at the end of the round, but Kadestam broke free.

Kadestam showed more urgency early in Round 5, increasing the volume of his attacks, but McGuire was able to halt the offense by forcing him against the cage. Kadestam avoided the takedown, however, and resumed his stalking of McGuire as the two went back to the center of the cage. Kadestam still had energy left in the tank for some showboating but wasn’t able to convert it into a lot of offense. As the two went back against the cage, Kadestam was the one controlling the action, landing short-distance strikes to the body as McGuire failed to secure a takedown. Just as it started to seem Kadestam’s patient strategy might not pay off, it did, and a right hand sent McGuire stumbling onto the canvas. Kadestam followed McGuire to the ground with a knee, but the ref was quick to step in and stop the bout with less than 30 seconds to go on the clock.

Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol cruises on the feet for clean sweep

Despite having her submission defense tested a few times, Gaol cruised on the feet, repeatedly landing accurate combos in a three-round bout that took place mostly standing. And if the strikes were lacking just a bit of power in the first two rounds, Gaol fixed that early in the third, dropping Sabanal early to add flair to a unanimous-decision win in her sixth MMA bout of 2018.

Hayato Suzuki irreproachable en route to yet another submission win

Hayato Suzuki (20-1-2) had a mission against Pongsiri Mitsatit (9-2) and he wasted no time in putting it in action. After immediately going for the takedown, Suzuki secured one of Mitsatit’s legs, and from then on it was like watching a boa constrictor and its prey.

Suzuki eventually locked in the rear-naked choke that forced the tap, but not before adding a bit of a cruel touch: He used the inventive “Passion lock” that had brought upon Mitsatit’s first pro loss to set up the fight-ending finish. Suzuki is now on a three-fight winning streak – all via rear-naked choke.